


Apertura

by mxcr



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2018-02-28 15:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2737574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mxcr/pseuds/mxcr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[ Fix it fic ] Beth survives her head wound but is separated from the group before they realise. The group tries to deal with their grief and the changes in Maggie and Daryl following Beth's death. Canon up until Coda.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. -One

Groggily, she opened her eyes.  The sky was bright blue and the sun even brighter.  She rose her hand to block her eyes and sat up slowly.  She was in the back of a station wagon, lain in blankets and flowers.  Taking in the sight and rubbing the bandage on her head, she climbed over the backseat and opened the door. 

Instantly, she realised what a bad idea it was.  Her vision spun and she slammed, hard, back into the car, knocking the back of her head and knocking herself back into darkness.

Daylight dipped and became night when she next woke.  Groaning, she shut the door and pulled tight the vest she was wearing.  Her head hurt and she was confused.  Had she been in a car crash?  A duffle bag caught her eye.  It was slightly hidden under the driver’s seat and resisted when she first started tugging at it.  Once freed, she opened it and gasped.  Inside was a machete with a red handle, two pistols, dented cans of food and a bottle of cloudy water.  She stared at the machete with its rust stains that she was pretty sure was blood as she withdrew the water.  Where was she?  She clambered into the driver’s seat, confusion all over her face.  The car took a couple tries before it came to life.  She glanced behind her and indicated before pulling into the road.

She drove for ten minutes, hoping to find somewhere nice to eat.  She kept scanning the area, wondering why nobody was about.  Screaming, she slammed on the brakes and scrambled out of the car.  In the middle of the road was an upturned car and clearly injured people.  Her hand went to her back pocket, expecting to feel her cell phone but there was nothing there.

“Hey!  Are you okay?” She rushed forward, dropping down to help the people trapped under the car.  The woman grabbed her wrist, hard and then growled.  She screamed and jumped away from the woman.  The woman seemed to be decomposing, although she wasn’t sure how that could happen.  She looked around wildly as she ran towards her car – more people looking like the woman were closing in on her.  She screamed again, fumbling with the door handle.  One of them fell against her, pinning her to the car and growling.  She struggled to face whatever it was and push it away.  She wrestled with it as it attempted to bite her.  More of them were closing in.  She screamed again and closed her eyes.

There was a loud noise and then the body went limp against her.  She heard more shots. 

“Are you alright?” A man’s voice asked her.  She opened her eyes slowly, crying.

“What _are_ they?!” She sobbed.  The man looked surprised.

“You don’t know what they are?” He asked, confused.  “Have you been inside walls this whole time?”

“ _Walls_?!” She spoke, incredulously.  The man furrowed his eyebrows, noticing the bandage wrapped around her head.

“Here, it looks like you need some help.  I have some supplies.” He tapped the strap of his backpack.  She nodded, tearfully, and got into the back seat.  He followed her, putting his bag in between them.  He removed her bandage and was surprised to see it stitched up and clean. 

“Who are you?” She asked, sniffling softly.

“Morgan.  Do you remember who you are?” He redressed her wound with new gauze.

“No.” She whispered, looking down.  “I woke up in the boot of this car.” 

Morgan looked over the backseat and saw the blankets and flowers.  He also noticed a wooden cross.  **Beth Greene** was carved into it.  Morgan picked it up and turned it in his hands.  The back of the cross had “loved by” written in the middle, with the names of those who loves her written in with permanent pen.  One name drew Morgan’s gaze.

“Rick Grimes.” He mouthed.  He bought the cross with him when he turned around and offered it to her.

“I think you’re Beth Greene and your group thought you were dead.”  She took the cross, bottom lip trembling.  She mouthed her name, and traced over some others.

“Why?” She said sadly.

“I don’t know.  It looks like you sustained a head wound though.” Morgan fished around in his bag.  “I think I know how to get you to them.”  He handed her a map.

“ _Sorry, I was an asshole_. Come to Washington. The new world's gonna need Rick Grimes.” Beth read out.  She looked up at Morgan. “What?”

“Rick Grimes is on your cross.” He tapped Rick’s name scrawled on the cross.  Beth nodded slowly, looking over the other names.

“Maggie Greene.” She whispered.  “Who do you think that is?  Sister, mother?” She gasped, “Daughter?” Morgan gave a small chuckle.

“I guess we’ll find out.”

* * *

 

It was slow moving since they’d had to abandon the car.  A herd came through while they were digging Beth’s grave.  Nobody was talking, the air felt too heavy.  Maggie was taking in uneven breaths, staring at the ground as she walked.  Glenn stayed close to her, somewhat leading her through the underbrush.  Every now and again, Maggie would let out a loud sob and stop momentarily.  Eventually, they came to a stop, needing to rest and set up camp.  Rick said he was going off with Carl to collect firewood and suggested some things that the rest could do.  Daryl walked off in the other direction, not telling anyone where he was going.  Maggie dropped to her knees where she was standing and moved into a cradled position.

“We should set up the tarps.  It’s probably going to rain.” Glenn said, after looking at Maggie sadly.  Rosita, Tara and Abe started setting up the camp, feeling lost and unhelpful with the group’s grief.  Michonne started stringing up cans around the camp, winding through trees.  Tyrese sat down with Judith and started to feed her with baby food they’d come across. 

Rick and Carl came back before Daryl.  Once it was dark, they were organising a group to go find Daryl.  The search group was about to launch when he came through the trees.

“Here.” He threw some dead snakes on the ground.  He went to a tree and leaned against it, facing away from the group.  Quietly, they cooked it snakes and divided up the food.  Carol walked over Daryl to give him his bowl.

“Not hungry.” He said, before she came fully into his vison.

“You have to eat.” Carol said softly.

“Don’t wanna.” He pushed the food away.  Sighing, Carol placed the food next to him and went back to the group.  Lighting a cigarette, Daryl looked up through the trees.  He blew smoke into the air and sniffed hard, trying not to cry.

* * *

 

Maggie lay on the ground, leaves and dirt rubbing into her hair.  She didn’t care.  She had left her sister behind, _in a car_ , without a proper burial.  Tears welled up into her eyes and spilled over.  She figured that eventually some walkers will get into the car and tear Beth apart.  They’d eat her. Glenn nudged a bowl against her but she just shook her head.  She closed her eyes tightly, hating the vison but feeling like she deserved it.  The only image she could see behind her eyelids these days were Beth’s limp body.  She deserved it for failing her sister, and their dad.  She should have done better. 

They’d tried to clean Beth up before burying her.  Eugene wasn’t the big scientist he claimed to be but he did have some basic medical knowledge.  He had found the bullet, trapped in the back of her skull.  He had extracted it gently, cleaned the wounds and bandaged them up.  Rosita and Tara had gone on a run to get Beth some clean clothes to be buried in.  Maggie sat and washed Beth’s hair with a bucket.  Then they lay her down in many blankets and picked flowers to bury her with.  Seeing her laying there had caused Maggie to collapse again.  She didn’t _look_ dead but she was.  The rest were digging her grave or decorating her cross.  Beth deserved a real funeral.  But then the herd had started coming through, they panicked, closed the boot and had to run.  Maggie had been resistant to going, Glenn pretty much dragging her to safety.  Once they rest comparative safety, Daryl had spun around and demanded that they go back and get her body.  He had stormed off in front of them when Rick said it’s too dangerous, the herd was pretty big and they’re fairly low on ammo.  Not much noise had been made since then.

* * *

 


	2. -Two

Daryl mindlessly flicked through the book on his knees.  Every few seconds, he would look up and scan the perimeter of the camp.  He could hear the soft snoring of some, the muffled sobbing of Maggie.  The air was thick with grief and Daryl wasn’t sure if he could handle it when the grief eventually lifts for most.  He glared down at the book, hardly interested in reading it anymore.  When he had picked it up at the Woman’s Shelter, Beth was still alive and there were still good people in the world.   Now there seemed hardly any point.  With a huff, he hurled the book away from the camp.

After a few hours, Rick appeared next to him.

“Get some sleep.  I’ll take over watch.” Rick nudged him.  Daryl shook his head.

“I’m alright.” He busied himself with watching the trees.  Rick sighed loudly.

“Daryl.  This isn’t healthy.  You need to sleep – “ Rick noticed the bowl, still filled with snake and beans, “ – you need to eat.” He crouched down in front of Daryl. 

“Beth wouldn’t want this.” Daryl narrowed his eyes at Rick, his top lip twitching.

“Doesn’t really matter what she wants now.” He spat out, standing up quickly.  Rick watched him stalk off into the trees and shook his head.  He went back to the camp and asked Michonne to trail him, just to make sure nothing bad happens to him but to stay out of sight.  Michonne agreed and disappeared in the trees.

“Dad?” Carl said softly, rubbing sleep from his eyes.  “What is the plan?  I don’t think Maggie will last much longer, she hasn’t eaten much and Daryl keeps running off.”

Rick sighed again, looking down at his hands.

“I don’t know.  We need to get somewhere safe, somewhere for Maggie and Daryl to deal with the grief.”

“I know we don’t have Beth’s body but I think we should do a burial anyway.  I think Maggie has her journal, we could bury that.” Carl chewed his bottom lip for a moment.  “It might help.” Rick smiled at his son, putting an arm around his shoulders.

“I think that’s a good idea.  We’ll make her a new cross.”

“It has to be somewhere pretty.” Carl insisted.  Rick nodded and gave a sad laugh.  They sat in silence for a while, Carl half asleep on Rick’s shoulder.

“Dad?” He whispered, withdrawing from Rick to look at him.  “Everyone is so sad.”  It was obvious that Carl didn’t know how to make everyone better and it was bothering him.

“Even Judith is a little moody.” Rick shook his head, defeated.

“I don’t know.” Carl leaned his head against the tree, unhappy with the lack of answers and possible action.

* * *

Michonne walked deliberately, making sure not to make much noise.  She didn’t fancy getting caught by Daryl.  He seemed to go off at nothing since Beth passed.  The day that they had to abandon the fire truck, the group had watched him completely go off at Maggie and then turn on the rest.  He had yelled about how none of them had cared when Beth was gone and that Maggie was a failure as a sister.  It was pretty much the only time Maggie really spoke up; she had stood up and shouted at Daryl that she knew she had messed up and she was paying the highest price for it.  She had shouted at him until she was crying hysterically and then she just started screaming.  Just screaming and screaming, bent at the waist.  Glenn had collected her up and quietened her.  The group was broken. 

Michonne stopped and slipped behind a tree.  Daryl had dropped to his knees.  A sob broke out from him and Michonne watched as he pulled his gun from its holster.  He seemed to be examining the gun, with interest.  He turned it in his hands and placed it against his temple.  Michonne made to move forward, but he lowered the gun.  She took a tentative step back into hiding when he put the gun in his mouth.

“No!” Michonne rushed forward, shoving him.  “What’re you doing?” She demanded, kicking the gun away from him.  Daryl stared down at his knees, sobbing softly.

“Let me alone.” He muttered.  Michonne knelt in front of him.

“It wouldn’t fix it anything.” She spoke. “I wanted to, as well, when my son died.  I wanted to for a long time but it doesn’t change anything.  It just passes the pain to somebody else.”

Daryl looked at her.

“You had a kid?” She nodded, and he shook his head.

“This ain’t right.  The good should survive but they don’t.  It’s fucked up.” Daryl let out a puff of breath.

“Rick tell you to follow me?” She nodded again and he rolled his eyes.

“I probably wasn’t gonna.” He gestured towards the gun. “I just don’t know what to do.”

“You are allowed to grieve, just don’t… Do that.” Michonne said, nodding towards the gun.  “Carl needs you, Judith needs you, Carol needs you; everyone needs you.” 

“I’m coming back soon.  I just wanna be alone.” He kept staring at the ground until he heard Michonne retreat.  She had taken his gun, assuming that he probably couldn’t really kill himself with his crossbow.  Daryl glanced around, making sure that he was alone before breaking down into tears.

* * *

 

It was daylight – a new day, a proposed new start – but Maggie stayed on the ground, staring at the dirt.  She could see little worms wriggling.  She had been offered food and water many times since the sun broke but she had rejected all except the one sip of water.  She hated how weak she was being but she didn’t have any strength in her.  She felt empty and lost and destroyed. 

“We should have burial ceremony for Beth.” Somebody said above Maggie.  She sat up at her sister’s name.  It was Rick who was speaking.

“Beth deserves it.  We’ll find somewhere nice, somewhere Beth would’ve liked.” The rest of the group were making noises of agreement. 

“Beth likes big trees.” Maggie spoke, her voice raspy from the lack of use. 

So the group spent the next week looking for a big tree and making Beth another cross.  The action seemed to pull Maggie out of the darkness a little.  She was hell-bent on finding a perfect place for Beth. 

* * *

 


	3. -Three

A week had passed since Beth and Morgan had teamed up. Morgan was at first concerned that he was going to have to baby the petite girl but her memory was coming back. Slowly and broken but it was there. She remembered that the world had turned bad and she was pretty good with a gun. Morgan was surprised when he first saw her put down a walker. She was stronger than she looked and so Morgan decided to not treat her like a weak person. He told her the things he knew about Rick, hoping to jog her memory further. She would wonder out loud about specific memories, feeling let down that Morgan could not confirm nor deny them. Mostly, their travels had been in silence.

They walked through the trees, shoes crunching on the fallen leaves. The birds sung softly above them, so beautifully, so contrasting to the state of the world. Beth hummed quietly under her breath, trying to match the pitch of the birds.

"I think I lived on a farm." Beth spoke up suddenly, her voice sounding especially loud in the quiet forest. When Morgan didn't say anything, she continued. "Then a prison. Why would I have lived in a prison?"

"Safety," Morgan shrugged, "you stay where you can. Move when it's safe." Beth chewed her bottom lip, deep in thought.

"Then I lived nowhere." She spoke again. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Then… In a shack." She looked at Morgan hopefully. He shrugged again and her face fell. She hung her head, sniffing. She pulled the cross from her bag and ran her fingers over some names. Beth started chewing her bottom lip again, her blue eyes roaming over the names. She had a really strong feeling of déjà vu. She was so lost in thought that she nearly screamed when Morgan's arm flew out in front of her, halting her almost rudely. She swallowed her fright and looked up. Morgan pointed, his arm completely out stretched. Just outside the tree line was a large herd of walkers, growling and snapping, coming towards the woods.

"Where do we go?" Beth whispered, her hand on the pistol on her thigh. Morgan glanced around, trying to see if any of the walkers had made it into the trees. He put his hand on her hand over the pistol and removed it slowly. The walkers didn't seem to smell them yet but they were getting closer.

" _Morgan_." Beth whispered urgently.

"That way." He pushed her deeper into the woods. "Walk along the tree line, go deeper if they come to close. Use the machete to put them down."

"What are you going to do?" Beth asked, concerned.

"I am going to follow you, in a moment, go." He pushed her lightly in the direction she was to go.

Beth hesitated so he pushed her again.

"Go." He ordered. She nodded, slipping away and walking quickly through the trees.

Beth walked quietly but deliberately. She kept scanning her surroundings, keeping an eye out for any walkers that got too close. She heard a growling behind her; she withdrew the machete and spun around, bringing the blade down through the walker's head. She grunted as she pulled the machete out of the walker. She backed into a tree, breathing heavily. Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to fall. She didn't want to cry, she wanted to be strong, but everything was so weird. She remembered the walkers and how to kill them but she hated it, she hated this new world. She rubbed her eyes, getting rid of the tears and stood up straight, looking around for any more walkers.

"Beth!" Morgan called, running through the trees. He motioned for her to start running as well. She opened her mouth to ask him if he was okay but instead choked out a scream. Behind Morgan was a herd, chasing him. She pushed herself off the tree and started running in the same direction as Morgan. She pulled the pistol from the strap on her thigh, ready to shoot anything that got in her way.

They ran, stumbling through the trees, managing to keep just out of reach from the walkers.

"Morgan!" Beth gasped, stopping suddenly. "Look!" She pointed. Ahead of them was an abandoned camper. Morgan nodded wordlessly and they ran towards it. Morgan took her machete and used it to pry the door open. Beth stood at his back, aiming the pistol.

"It's opened." He panted, falling into the camper. Beth followed hastily, slamming the door shut. Immediately after she closed it, walkers rammed into it, hungrily snapping and hitting the door. Beth leaned all her weight against it and put on the door's own bolt. They both scanned the camper, looking for something to put against the door. Beth could feel the door bowing under the weight of the walkers. There seemed to be nothing in the camper. Morgan went to the window opposite Beth and looked out. No walkers and a bit of a fall. The camper seemed to be on the edge of a hill. He knocked out the window and pushed the flimsy bed up to Beth.

"It won't stop them." She said breathlessly, pressing harder into the door.

"It's not meant to. It will slow them down. We're going to jump out the window. It's a bit of a drop but it shouldn't hurt too much." Morgan explained. Beth nodded and moved so that just her hands were pushing against the door. Morgan shoved the bed in front of the door and placed his hands on it.

"Go, you jump first." Morgan jerked his head towards the window. Beth went over to it and looked down. She dropped her machete out first, then hooked her leg over the frame. She looked back at Morgan before dropping from view. Morgan took a deep breath and ran from the door and quickly hopped through the window. As he reached the window, the door made a loud crack and the plastic of the camper gave way.

By the time he reach the bottom of the hill, Beth was up and had her machete.

"We need to move." Beth said, helping him up. "The camper will probably fall down." She pointed at how the camper was getting closer to falling down the hill.

"Okay." Morgan stood up and brushed some leaves off of himself. "Let's go." They walked away from the hill, into the trees. They heard a loud screech of metal and looked back. The camper seemed to be anchored into the ground by a metal foundation. The stress of the walkers pushing against it was causing the bottom of the camper to push along the foundation. They started running.

* * *

 


	4. -Four

There had been many big trees but Maggie had rejected all of them. None of them were big enough, or would have enough flowers come spring. Maggie had seemed to forget that she had Beth's diary until Carl had suggested they bury that and so she now spent a lot of time reading it. Glenn was upset and feeling a little selfish. He missed Beth and was sad that she was dead but was a little angry at how Maggie was refusing company in her grief.

The group was chatting all together, eating the food that they had managed to scavenge in a camper they'd come across a couple days ago. Maggie and Daryl were both eating; Daryl mostly picking at his food but at least getting it down and Maggie almost feverishly. She spoke feverishly as well, the new task seeming to have intoxicated her. She was in the middle of raving to Tara about something when she stood up quickly, her bowl of food tumbling to the ground.

"Beth!" She screeched, her eyes fixated on a spot past the trees. Daryl jumped up, following her line of vision.

" _Beth!_ " Maggie took off running. Daryl stood, dumbstruck and deflated. Glenn followed Maggie instantly, with Tara and Sasha on his heels.

Maggie crashed through the branches, getting cuts and scrapes all over her body. As she ran, she screamed Beth's name.

Back at the makeshift camp, everyone else was hastily packing up. Maggie's screams and careless running would probably attract walkers and they didn't want to be there when that happened.

Daryl stood still, shaking. Maggie had been so sure that Beth was in the clearing but he hadn't seen her.

"She's dead." He said to himself as Maggie's screams were heard again. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head quickly, trying to shake the thoughts out of his head.

Glenn, Tara and Sasha were sprinting after Maggie as fast as they could. The desperation in her voice made Glenn flinch. Maggie started slowing down, running confused. Glenn caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She was softly muttering "Beth" over and over again. When her eyes meet Glenn's, his heart broke. She was in another world and that world was causing her pain.

"Where's Bethy?" She whispered, bunching up his t-shirt with her hands.

"Beth?" She turned around, confusion and despair written all over her face. Sasha and Tara caught up as Maggie dropped to her knees.

"She was right there!" She insisted, pointing in front of her. "Where is she?" Her voice cracked.

Glenn crouched down in front of her and gathered her up into a hug. A sob ripped from her throat and she pushed him away. Leaning forward on her knees, she screamed a bloodcurdling scream.

* * *

 

With her nose wrinkled, Beth watched the snake cook over the fire. Morgan sat on the other side of the fire sharpening sticks. She decided there was no point to put herself off of the food and turned her attention to the vest that she had woken up wearing. It was soft black leather, it felt very worn, with angel wings on the back. It didn't seem like something she would wear but she was and she was happy for it. It made her feel safe and it was surprisingly warm. Beth often wondered if it belonged to one of the people on her cross.

She pulled it out of her bag and looked over the names again. Whenever she did this, she felt especially drawn to certain names. She would try willing herself into remembering but just ended up frustrated. Memories would come to her, fuzzy and faceless. She wanted the faces to her memories.

"How far away are they?" She asked, not looking up from the cross. Morgan let out a deep sigh but did not answer her. The question had been asked many times and the answer had never changed; he didn't know. Beth was growing frustrated, she wanted to be reunited with the people on her cross.

"Why do you wanna meet up with Rick Grimes anyway?" She pressed, glaring at him a little.

"He is the only friend that I have left in this world." Morgan replied after a moment of silence. "In the world we live in now, you need to hold on to the ones who care and who you care about."

"What if he doesn't remember you? Or he hates you for some reason?" Beth continued, playing with the cross in her hand. "What if they hate me, or don't even miss me?"

"He may well hate me. Last time I saw him, I tried to kill him." Beth's gaze snapped quickly back to his.

"What?" She hissed. "Are you telling me that my group might hate you?" Morgan waved his hands around.

"Calm down. I don't think Rick will hate me. He had a chance to kill me but he didn't. He understood the darkness I was in. Your group will be happy to see you. They thought you were dead but still prettied you up." He gestured at her clothing and the bandage wrapped around her head. "Things like proper burials tend to not happen anymore but they were giving you one."

Beth chewed her bottom lip and retreated into her own mind.

The next day, while they were packing up the camp, Beth swore that she could hear her name being called from a while away. She looked to Morgan to ask him if he could hear it and stopped when she noticed that he was looking up curiously.

"You can hear it too?" Beth whispered. He looked at her, making eye contact, and nodded slowly.

"There are probably many Beth's in the world." He spoke cautiously. Beth nodded quickly.

"Right, but I think we should follow it." Morgan nodded in agreement and, once they finished packing, they moved towards the noise.

 


	5. -Five

Daryl jogged out into the open field where the group had collected around Maggie.   She was on her knees with her hands in the dirt, her body convulsing with sobs.  Glenn sat next to her, trying to pull her into a hug but she kept resisting.  As Daryl got closer, he could hear Maggie whispering between her cries.  She looked up and her eyes met his, and her face twisted into a snarl.

“Why did you let her be taken?” Maggie demanded, pushing herself off the ground and stalking towards him.  She shoved him and asked again.  Daryl fell a step back with every push, saying nothing.

“If Beth had got out with somebody else, she’d still be here.” Maggie hissed.  Daryl forced himself to meet her eyes, feeling like he deserved the hate in them.

“I know.  I think about it all the time.  It’s the only fucking thing I can think about now.” He started to shout.  “If you had cared enough to look for her, she would still be here!  Instead you ran off to Washington!”

Maggie’s bottom lip trembled and she stepped away from him.  Glenn moved forward and took her into his arms.  She hid her face into his neck and Glenn shot an apologetic look over her face.

“Alright, let’s keep moving.” Abraham spoke up over the uncomfortable silence, gesturing across the field.  The group started moving, except for Rick and Daryl.  Rick walked up to Daryl and put a hand on his shoulder.

“She didn’t mean any of that.  It was nobody’s fault.” Rick told him, squeezing softly.  Daryl kept his eyes on the ground.

“Yeah she did.  Deep down, she means it.  I could see it in her eyes.” Daryl made a vague motion towards his own eyes.  Rick sighed and shook his head.

“There wasn’t anything we coulda done.” He said, before following the group.  Daryl slowly followed after him, intent on keeping his distance.

* * *

 

Nightfall came and went as Beth and Morgan traipsed through the woods.  They were tired, but every time Morgan suggested that they make camp and rest, Beth resisted, saying that they should push forward and find her group.

“They’re close, I know it.” She insisted every time.  Morgan felt the hope radiating off her and decided to indulge her.  It was also contagious.   He was a little hopeful too.

The reached a field and Beth pointed to the tree line on the other side.

“Let’s get there and then we can sleep.” She offered, a bright smile on her face.  Morgan nodded in agreement, hitched his bag further up his chest and started across the field. 

After ten minutes of walking, they breached the tree line.

“Hey,” Morgan tapped her shoulder, “do you hear that?” Beth looked at him, tilting her head a little.

“Water.” He grinned, pointing deeper into the woods.  “I bet there’s a stream back there.”

Beth nodded, “I’ll go collect water if you start setting up camp.”  Morgan agreed and showed her the direction that the water was probably coming from.

Beth walked through the woods, softly humming to herself.  Stepping over logs and pushing back bush, a small pond came into view.  It was topped with a little waterfall.  Beth dipped her hand into the water and watched it trickle through her fingers.  Biting her lip, she cupped her hands and bought some water to her lips to taste.  A smile broke over her face and she started filling up the canteens.

* * *

 

The group had set up camp.  Maggie was leaning against a tree, staring blankly into space.  They had built a small fire and were cooking some squirrels over it.  As portions were handed out, Abraham and Rosita came back through the trees.

“There’s a small group a bit back, one guy and one girl.  I didn’t see them well, the girl was wearing a hood.  They’re well set up; don’t look to be any trouble.”  Abraham explained.  He nodded as he was passed his dinner.

“They have cans set up too.” Rosita said, gesturing to the cans and hub caps wired through the trees.

“I guess it wasn’t unique.” Tara shrugged her shoulders.  She was next to Maggie, trying to coax her into eating. 

“I’m going for a walk.” Maggie spoke, standing up.  When Glenn made to follow her she shook her head.

“I wanna go alone.  Clear my head.” He sat back down.  She gave the group a weak smile, kissed Glenn on the top of his head and walked off.

“Is it safe for her to be alone?” Sasha asked, watching her go.

Rick nodded.  “Yeah, she’s just gotta have some time alone.  She’ll be fine.” 

* * *

 

Maggie walked sluggishly through the trees.  She felt so sad that her body itself was rebelling.  She reached the foot of a tree and lifting her top.   Wrapped through the belt loops of her pants and her waist was a rope.  Slowly, Maggie unravelled it from her hiding place.  She eyed up the branch above her head, wondering how she was going to get up there.  It was a foot above her head and she couldn’t reach it with her hands.  Her fingers could brush the branch but that was all.

With trembling fingers, she knotted the noose.  She threw the other side of the rope up over the branch and tugged it down.  Maggie looked around, scanning for something to step onto.  She found a fallen branch and dragged it under the noose.  Balancing on it proved difficult and took a few tries. 

Sniffing, Maggie slipped the noose over her head and let her balance on the branch go.

As her vision went, Maggie swore she saw Beth.  And heard screaming.

* * *

 


	6. -Six

Beth and Morgan sat down, tired. They were both happy to finally be stopping. Morgan gave a huge yawn and stretched.

"You can sleep if ya want." Beth suggested, noting his heavy eyelids.

"We should make a fire and set snares." Morgan shook his head.

"I'll go set the snares and get wood." Beth stood up quickly. Morgan tried to argue but he stopped himself – she had a determined look on her face. He'd learnt that he could not argue when she had that look. They had stopped but Beth definitely had her mind on their mission. Morgan smiled instead.

"Okay, I'll skin these." He nodded towards some squirrels.

Humming softly, Beth walked through the woods. Every few moments, her humming would halt and then restart, causing her to knit her eyebrows together. The song kept escaping her. She stopped and chewed on her bottom lip, trying to recall the full song. In the silence, Beth could here soft footsteps and muffled sobbing. Curious, she moved forward, drawing her gun. She stepped out from behind a tree, raising her gun to the person, just in case. As she went to speak, she screamed and dropped the gun on the ground. In front of her was a brunette, hanging from a tree. Beth had come just in time to see her eyes snap shut and a final breath fall from her lips. Beth started to breathe very quickly, panic setting in. She look around wildly, looking for a way to get the person in front of her down. She rushed towards the hanging body, searching for a pulse and trying to reach up and untie the noose. With a huge sigh of relief, she found a pulse.

"Okay, okay… How do I get her down?" Beth muttered breathlessly. She looked up at the branch and at the trunk. It didn't seem too hard to climb up, so she did. Once on the branch, she scooted forward quickly. She pull her machete from her waist and brought it hard across the rope. Two swipes and the rope broke, sending the woman to the ground. Beth slipped off the branch and untied the rope with shaking hands. She stared into the woman's face, waiting, for what seemed like forever, before she took a huge gasp. Silently, Beth cheered. She awkwardly gathered the woman into her arms and half carried, half dragged her back to the camp. Hopefully Morgan knew how to fix her properly, her breath was raggedly and sounded pretty bad.

"Morgan!" Beth called, huffing and puffing. Morgan stood up, alerted by the worried and urgency in her voice. He ran towards her, not expecting what he did see. He slipped his arms around the woman and lifted her off the ground, carrying her directly into the camp.

"What happened?" He asked Beth, checking the woman for injuries.

"She hanged herself." Beth whispered, watching everything Morgan did. Morgan placed his hands on her throat, feeling for the damage. The woman coughed and red spittle spilt onto her lips. Morgan wiped it up and looked at Beth.

"I think she's damaged her throat, but she's still breathing. Go get the water." He pointed vaguely in the direction of the canteens. Beth grabbed them quickly then ran back, handing them to him. He lifted the woman up, tipping some water into her mouth.

"Why'd you get her down?" Morgan faced her. She was staring at the woman, worried etched all over her face.

"I don't know." Beth whispered, sniffing softly. "Is she okay?"

"She will be." Morgan bundled up his coat and placed it under the woman's head.

"She just needs rest." He reassured Beth. Beth nodded slowly,

"Okay, this there anythin' I should get?" She asked Morgan, her eyes not leaving the woman's face.

"Fire would be good." Morgan gestured to the lack of fire wood in the pit he had dug. "But I will go get it."

"No." Beth stood up, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You stay with her in case anythin' bad happens. You're the medic." Morgan agreed, settling close to the woman while Beth disappeared back into the woods.

* * *

Glenn was on watch, mainly because he wanted to be awake when Maggie got back. He had started to worry. When he had voiced his worry initially, everybody assured him that Maggie was fine and would be back soon. Now that night-time had well a truly settled, others were getting restless. Glenn looked up as Tara approached him.

"Hey. Should we start looking or..? Is this still okay?" She glanced at Rick as she spoke. Rick shook his head,

"No, it's not okay. We'll send out a group." Rick said, standing up. The group looked towards him. Glenn stood and went next to him.

"We should go looking for Maggie. Only a couple of us." He jerked his head in Glenn's direction. "Glenn, obviously, and I think Tara," Tara nodded quickly, moving to stand next to Glenn, "Tara wants to go. Who else? I'll be going to."

Daryl stood up, "I'll come." Sasha stood up too, nodding.

"Me too."

"Okay, everyone else, keep safe. Let's go." Rick started walking in the direction that Maggie had left in hours earlier.

* * *

The woman had no made another noise or moved in a very long time. Morgan hoped that she was simply overtired, not damaged beyond repair. Beth seemed much invested in her survival. Morgan watched her, wondering why Beth cared so much. There was no room for unnecessary kindness in the world anymore. The people had moved into the camp pretty silently, Morgan didn't even realise until he heard the sound of a gun's safety being removed.

"Stand up, step away from her slowly and drop all your weapons." A rough voice said. Morgan stood up and turned to face the intruders.

"I didn't hurt her. I found her like this." He couldn't see the group fully, they lingered in the shadows.

"Morgan?" Somebody stepped from the shadows, lowering their gun. Morgan squinted, unable to make out any features. They moved closer, into the light of the fire.

"Rick?" Morgan couldn't believe his eyes. He had been searching for him, but he thought it would've taken longer. Rick moved tentatively towards him.

"What happened?" He gestured to the woman on the ground.

"We found her hanging in the woods. The girl I'm with cut her down." The rest of Rick's group emerged from the shadows.

"Is she okay?" An Asian guy asked, looking very concerned. He spoke to Morgan but didn't look at him, instead he was moving quickly to the woman.

"Yeah, yeah… We gave her some water, she's breathin-" Morgan's explanation was cut off by an outburst.

"Why the  _fuck_  do you have this?" A man with shaggy brown hair practically roared. He brandished it in Morgan's face.

" _Why_?" He was holding up Beth's cross and the black biker's vest she always wore.

"It belongs to the girl I'm with." Morgan took a step away from the guy. His eyes were flashing wildly; Morgan had no doubts that if Rick wasn't here, this man would have shot him.

"What?" A black woman asked, looking very confused. Morgan looked around the group.

"Beth Greene…" He gestured at the cross. "We've been looking for you all, actually." He went into his pocket and pulled out the map. He handed it to Rick and Rick read it, his eyebrows knitted quite close together.

"Where did you get this?" Rick asked, holding it out to Morgan.

"Found it in a church." He looked up as he heard Beth return. "Beth!" He called out to her. She slowly entered their camp, snares in hand. She was looking around uncomfortably.

"What's happening?" She asked, moving towards Morgan. Everyone was watching her closely.

" _Beth_." The shaggy haired man said weakly.

"Beth, this is your group." Morgan explained. He pointed at Rick. "This is Rick Grimes." Beth smiled softly at Rick.

All at once, everyone seemed to move. Rick pulled Beth into a hug, not noticing or not caring at how she tensed at the strangers touch. The Asian man jumped up and moved quickly towards her, giving her a huge hug and looking at her face.

"You're alive." He stated, incredulously. She gave a weak smile. The two woman with the group wrapped her up in another hug. Everyone but the shaggy haired man had hugged her. Beth looked at him, half expectant, half wary.

"So do you hug me too?" Beth barely got the words out of her mouth before he swept her up in a hug. He held her tight and close, longer than the others, seeming afraid to let go. She wigged slightly so he conceded and released her.

Rick cleared his throat, gesturing to his group.

"We're all very confused. We saw Beth get shot in the head." He explained.

"Who is she?" Beth ignored Rick's statement, pointing at the woman laying down. The Asian man came to her, looking sad.

"She's you're sister. Maggie." Beth gave a little gasp, her hand covering her mouth. Her mind was spinning. She took a few shaky steps towards Maggie before her knees buckled and she fainted.

* * *

 

AN: Please review (: ! 


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